I should start by admitting that our cold frame is not going to win any design awards It is simple and utilitarian, utilizing cast-off single-pane windows and scraps of unwanted lumber from around the farm. One of the “windows” is made using a large piece of plexiglass screwed to an old window screen for support. We replaced the glass of the old window years back after we narrowly avoided a catastrophic event.

(During a tour of the garden while cousins were visiting one summer, we were struck dumb by a horrific sight. Bella, my cousin’s then 3 year old daughter, was standing on top of the plate glass of the cold frame, right in the center of the window. No one could breathe. At the time it housed the same glass from the old 50’s era storm window. Its sashes had been gently rotting in place, the glazing nearly gone. To this day I don’t know what held that window in place long enough for my cousin to rescue his girl. After that moment we removed the real glass and replaced it with acrylic.)

The purpose of the cold frame is to create an earth-insulated mini-greenhouse in which to grow early greens. This works best in a year like this one, where the snow melts early and and the freeze depth is low. We had not been using the cold frame much in recent years because of its one fatal flaw; it is too far from the house. On a normal winter, it seems too laborious to trudge up to the top of the garden and excavate the doors through the snow. This year we simply walked up the lawn.

Rob did most of the work on this year’s cold frame repairs. He had to replace some of the frame, which buried directly in the soil had been prone to rot. He also shored up the windows and added two latches to keep the doors open during hotter spring days.

We already planted half of this little garden with arugula, spinach, chard, kale, and some lettuce leaves. We will see what we get. We have found that the arugula seems less prone to leaf beetles when grown in the protective shelter of the cold frame but the spinach is quick to resent a too-warm environment. In a week or so I am going to direct sow some spinach right into the outside garden and see what we get.